Maison de la Culture Yiddish - Bibliothèque Medem

The Maison de la Culture Yiddish - Bibliothèque Medem (not to be confused with the Centre Medem - Arbeter Ring) in Paris is the most important Yiddish cultural centre in Europe today. It organises various Yiddish-related events as well as language courses and houses the largest Yiddish library in Europe, the Bilbiothèque Medem.

"The Medem Library is the largest Yiddish language library in Europe. It was founded in 1929 by Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe, members of the Bund. Until the 1970s, it functioned as a lending library. During the Occupation, the collections were hidden in the basement of the building at 110, Rue Vieille-du-Temple, where the library was located. Since the late 1970s, the library has also become a research library, used by students, scholars, translators, filmmakers, musicians, journalists and the like. During the 1990s, the Medem Library absorbed most of the holdings of the four other Yiddish libraries in France. In 2002, the Medem Library merged with the Association for Yiddish Studies (AEDCY) to form the Paris Yiddish Center-Medem Library (Maison de la culture yiddish-Bibliothèque Medem), the leading institution for the dissemination of Yiddish culture in Europe."

The Medem library also houses a number of archives and offers regular courses in Yiddish literature and language, in addition to a summer course. It publishes a newsletter for Yiddish students, Der Yidisher Tam-Tam. It also sells duplicates of Yiddish books. The library has a blog that can be found here. See also this website of the American Friends of the Medem Library.

The Maison de la Culture Yiddish - Bibliothèque Medem is currently relocating, see here for more info.